Class of 2001

Class Correspondent

Ayelet Weissmann made aliyah on Aug. 21. She is enjoying living near her nieces and nephews. She plans to look for a job in the field of environmental science. Julia Becker writes that she and her wife, Ashley Agerson, welcomed a son, Henry Joseph Agerson, on Aug. 19. He joins big brother Owen. Daniel Miller and Casey Ngo-Miller had a daughter, Lucia Mei Ngo-Miller, on Jan. 13. Older sister Ella is 4 years old. Lauren (Haimovich) Kupersmith and Adam Kupersmith ’99 bought a house in Northport, N.Y. Lauren works part time as a pediatrician, and Adam is a cardiologist on Long Island. They welcomed their second daughter, Danielle Julia, on May 31. Lauren writes, “She and her sister, Elana, now 4 years old, are keeping us very busy!” John Yu and his wife, Meesun Ahn, are parents of Jean Olivia Yu. She was born on May 3. Julia Deak Sandler and her husband, Ted, had a son, Noah Paul Sandler, on June 26. Writes Rachel Segaloff, MA’05, Heller MBA’05, “On July 20, we welcomed a daughter, Emma Paige, to our family. We are happily adjusting to life as a family of four!” Nicholas Sieben is an acupuncturist with a practice in New York, specializing in treating degenerative conditions and psychological issues. His articles about acupuncture and Chinese medicine have appeared in medical publications around the world. He publishes an educational blog about his experiences as a healer, which can be found on his website. Tracy Benguigui and her husband, Moshe, had a daughter, Dina Evelyn, on March 26. Dina’s big brother, Yehuda, turned 2 on Sept. 19. Congratulations to Jonathan Braunstein, who married Andrea Cohen on Oct. 13 in Park Ridge, N.J. More than a dozen alumni attended, including the groom’s sister and brother-in-law, Marcie ’93 and Erik Roth ’93, and best men Michael Miles and John DeOrio ’00. Jonathan and Andrea live in South Harlem in New York City. Jonathan is currently the editorial director of webcasts and product development catalyst for Money-Media, a subsidiary of the Financial Times. Seth Michaels lives in Washington, D.C., where he writes for Working America. He will be married next spring. Margalit Segal welcomed a baby girl, Avital Rachel, to her family on May 25. She joins big brother, Asher, who is 2 1/2. After living in New York since graduating, the family relocated to Chicago. Kirsten (Kucharik) Robbins started a new job as an attorney/adviser with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Tara Filowitz had a baby, Charlotte Leona Arrey, on July 30. Jennifer (Horne) Elliot is busy with twins. She and her husband, Alex, welcomed twin daughters, Avonlea and Lilia Elliot, on April 11. Jen Marks let us know that she had her second child, Darcy Faye Marks, with husband Aaron on July 20. The baby joins big sister Molly. Jen writes, “I’m taking the year off from work to have my dream job — stay-at-home mommy!” Sara David and her husband, Alex Fisher ’99, welcomed a son, Benjamin Aron Fisher, on July 27. Glenn Rowe was re-elected to a one-year term as chair of the board of trustees at MassBay Community College. He has served on the board since 2009, when he was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick. He earned his associate’s degree in biotechnology from MassBay in 1999 before attaining his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis, and his master’s and PhD from Yale. He is an instructor at Harvard Medical School and in the CardioVascular Institute at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Rabbi Eleanor Steinman was named executive director of California Faith for Equality, a nonprofit that works to educate, support and mobilize California’s faith communities to promote equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and to safeguard religious freedom. A former assistant rabbi at Temple Sinai in Toronto, she was ordained in 2008 and owns two master’s degrees from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. Of her new position, she says, “I am thrilled for this opportunity to educate and inspire people of faith to join California Faith for Equality as we work together for equality for all LGBT people throughout our state. California Faith for Equality’s partners are doing outstanding work also, and I look forward to continuing and expanding upon these collaborations so that the words of the Hebrew prophet Amos will ring true, to let ‘justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.’” Valerie (Kolko) Glassman was recently promoted to assistant dean of students at Duke University. She writes, “My husband and I are about to close on our first house here in Durham, N.C. We were also thrilled to attend and participate in the wedding of Michael Weinstein-Reiman ’04 and Aaron Schwartzbord.” Amy Lurie Schulman married Seth Schulman on May 20 at Temple Beth El in Stamford, Conn. They currently reside in San Francisco. Brandeis alumni in attendance included Ari Fox ’99, Sharon Meiri Fox ’00, Lori Segal, Odelia Levy ’00, Shani Petroff ’98 and Lindy Kramer Lurie ’04. Rabbi Aryeh Leifert moved with his family (Michal; Yonah, 8; Ahuva, 6; Maayan, 4; and Aderet, 11 months) from San Antonio to Mazkeret Batya, Israel, in late 2009. After serving as a congregational rabbi in Texas, he completed the requirements for the Israel Ministry of Tourism tour guide course and is now a licensed guide. You may reach him at www.walkingisrael.com. Ariel Ahram accepted a position at the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs in Alexandria, Va. He spent four years on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma before returning to the D.C. area. He is teaching graduate courses on Middle East politics, state failure, security, development and research methods. Erin Sheehan Daly of Charlton, Mass., was named vice president of awards for the New England Direct Marketing Association (NEMDA) for 2012-13. This is the third time she has been selected to oversee the planning and execution of NEDMA’s annual Awards for Creative Excellence program. Erin is the enterprise marketing program manager at PTC in Needham.